Rene Gallimard

Rene Gallimard (died 1986) was a French civil servant who, in 1986, was charged with espionage after a 26-year-long affair with Chinese Beijing Opera singer Song Liling (a cross-dressing man, unbeknownst to Gallimard) led to Gallimard passing on classified information to Song, who then sent it to the Chinese embassy. Gallimard committed seppuku due to his feelings of betrayal and anger towards Song, whom he mistakenly believed was the "perfect woman".

Biography
Rene Gallimard was a French civil servant who worked as an accountant for ambassador Manuel Toulon in Beijing, China during the 1960s, and he brought his wife Helga with him. In 1960, he met Beijing Opera performer Song Liling at a performance of Madame Butterfly - unaware that Song, like all other actors playing female roles in traditional Beijing Opera, was a woman - and fell in love with him after having a conversation about Song's performance of such an imperialist play. They had a weekly courtship, with Gallimard meeting Song for 15-20 minute sessions. Later in 1960, Toulon made him Vice-Consul, replacing LeBon; he was also in charge of the revamped intelligence division.

Gallimard and Song later bought an apartment on the outskirts of Beijing, decorating their home with Western furniture and Chinese antiques. At the same time, he advised Ambassador Toulon about the Vietnam War, saying that the Chinese did not care if the US bombed North Vietnam or Laos, as they did not like Ho Chi Minh. From 1961 to 1963, Gallimard and Song continued to cohabitate, and Song pretended to be pregnant, buying a child from Xinjiang and naming him "Song Peepee". In 1963, Gallimard told the Americans that they would have to overthrow their South Vietnamese ally Ngo Dinh Diem; at a party at the Austrian ambassador's home, he embarked on an extramarital affair with a female coworker, Renee. He later attempted to marry Song, but Song rebuffed him due to possible controversy over a French diplomat divorcing his wife and marrying a Communist actress, and the two decided to have a long-term affair.

In 1966, during the Cultural Revolution, contact between Chinese and foreigners became impossible, and Gallimard and Song's apartment was confiscated. Gallimard was also fired from his job because his predictions about Vietnam turned out to be wrong, and he returned home in 1968. During the May 68 uprisings, Gallimard found it interesting that he was greeted by Maoist flags, students, and slogans, but these slogans were in French instead, as French students were protesting and causing violent riots. Gallimard got into an argument with his wife over her dislike for incense and her concerns about the state of France, revealing to her that he had been having an affair for eight years, and that he wanted a divorce; although he could not live with Song, he did not want to live with Helga. In 1970, Song brought his "son" with him to Paris, and they moved in with Gallimard, who was hired as a courier. Gallimard handled sensitive documents, photographed them, and sent them to the Chinese embassy, and Gallimard was later caught and arrested for espionage. Both Gallimard and Song were ultimately charged, but they were pardoned; however, Gallimard was humiliated, and he continued to publicly insist that Song was a woman. Deep inside, though, Gallimard felt betrayed, as his fantasy "perfect woman" turned out to be a man, and he went on to commit seppuku with a knife while having a vision of himself being surrounded by dancers.